When you want to grow a muscle, you have to damage it first. You have to lift something heavy and over extend it. It’s sore for a few days - and then it grows stronger …This is what happened to my heart this week.

Sometimes we let ‘weeds’ - very small but negative distractions, creep up and take a strong hold and become intertwined in our lives. The weeds that are obvious – different color, textures, ugly, we pull immediately when they are small. The weeds that say: I don’t belong here – those are easy to pull.

Having never had an orchid, I was in awe. I would glance at it, its grand curves and beautiful petals, as I rushed through my kitchen. It brightened my days and bolstered my spirits. Day after day, it seemed to be perfect.

One of the most important things my mother taught me was to choose my friends intelligently...The older I get, the more I believe who I allow to influence me plays an enormous part in the place I find myself in today.

The more you get to you know your closest friends, the more you get to know yourself. You realize that you require grace. You realize you can hurt others, are sometimes selfish, and are sometimes prideful. In other words, you realize how human you are.

This race I started out running with my colleagues where 50% of them were women, that is not the case as I glance left and right and see who is running next to me now. I am in a minority, as most of my work colleagues in leadership are men.

Testimonials

Sasha Shillcutt has been inspiring to me in so many ways. As a physician educator, she is strong, well respected and hard working. As a wife and mother, she is balanced, kind hearted and giving. She inspires me to work on my authentic self and encourages me to seek my own personal balance. Despite being busy in her career and family life, she serves as someone who will encourage and uplift other women around her! Her life and blog help me work on my inner shine! 

In 2015, Sasha started a networking group on Facebook for women physicians. The group, called Style MD, quickly grew from 30 members to nearly 8,000 attending women physicians from all over the world. The purpose of Style MD is to empower physician women through encouragement and networking. The group promotes resilience through self-care, networking, promotion and sponsorship. Below are testimonials from women in Style MD:

Before Style MD, I was too afraid to promote myself, to realize my value and my ability to contribute. After joining this amazing group of women, I am a better physician, mother and wife. I have given my first talk at a national meeting, have been asked to review articles for peer journals and have been invited to do research with leaders in my field. All I did was speak up and put myself out there, and believed in myself.

— Suzy Feigofsky, M.D., FHRS Cardiac Electrophysiology

Before SMD I wasn’t really sure if it was even okay to care about one’s appearance. Superficially this may not seem like a big deal but I heard the message loud and clear early in my training when someone mocked the completely appropriate but colorful dress I chose to wear. Who I was and the things that brought joy to me were dumb. This made me question a multitude of things in my life and shook my confidence. I felt like I had to deny myself, shroud myself in non-distracting clothing in hopes of appearing more competent. Stumbling upon this group opened my eyes to realizing that it is perfectly fine to be who I am meant to be. I’m someone who has a passion for my work, passion in helping others, and I also happen to love shopping and dressing up. Essentially I learned not to deny who I was and in doing so have gained confidence to take my career and family life to greater heights.

— Isabelle C., M.D. Physician

I had joined Style MD in 2016 when I was in bit of a routine in my previous job. Though I was happy at my old job, I did not feel there was any room for personal growth. Being in Style MD, I was surrounded by women who were not only physicians by profession but also just good people. The kind of people, who want to see you happy and encourage you to do things you never thought you could. The mantra of being #braveenough, came from the constant reminder, that it takes a lot of courage to do something difficult. Of course there is the style aspect of the group, which makes it fun. Looking great makes you feel great and is a reflection of you as a person. In my new job, I treat women with pelvic pain, and I transmit that mantra of ‘being brave’ to my patients, because mind and body are connected.